"… When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" The Holy Bible
"Many a so-called wise economist ... had not studied past history enough to know that after the greatest advance in history had culminated … the greatest panic in history must follow ... " W. D. Gann

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Thursday roundup (03-30-2017)

The life and times of an Italian non-performing loan: The deep roots of Italy’s bad-debt problems (The Economist)

U.S. debt to double over the next 30 years (CNNMoney) U.S. debt to reach 150 percent of GDP in 30 years: CBO (Reuters) The federal debt will grow to 1.5 times the total economy, the CBO projects (Marketwatch)

Can the White House drive the tax reform train? History says no: Lawmakers from both parties say it's hard for the president to take the lead on writing big policy initiatives. (Politico)

Amazon and Walmart are in an all-out price war that is terrifying America’s biggest brands: Grocery suppliers are feeling the squeeze — big-time. (recode) The aim of this blog is to show (mostly from reports in mainstream respected news sources) that there is reason to believe that both the United States and the global economies remain fragile in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 and that a number of threats exist today that could, if they worsened, bring about economic depression -- not just a minor depression, but a depression worse than the Great Depression. Key threats include excessive risk-taking by financial firms, unchecked by effective regulation; the continued existence of "too big to fail" institutions; and most especially, the amassing of levels of public and private debt which could become unsustainable.